Automobile end door



Oct. 16, 1928.

G. G. GILPIN AUTOMOBILE END DOOR Filed Feb. 18, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l in; i

Get. 16, 1928.

G. G. GILPIN AUTOMOBILE END DOOR Filed Feb. 18, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M w I a Q a a Patented Oct. 16, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GARTH G. GILPIN, OF RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO UNION METAL PRODUCTS 7 COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

AUTOMOBILE END DOOR.

Application filed February 18, 1926. Serial No. 89,109.

' This invention box cars known as one of their. end walls composed of doors to facilitate the loading and unloading of automotive cars and trucks or the like. Such anarrangement materially weakens the car framing to resist the service stresses. It is difficult to design the end frame of such a car, the attachments of the doors and the doors themselves so asto resist the weaving stresses of the car in service and the shifting cargo and at the same time obtain a door which is easy to operate; weather-proof and burglar-proof and which, when open, w1ll give an opening as wide as theinside of the car. Automobile cars are used in general service so must be capable of carrying various types of lading as well as those mentioned above.

In the drawings: L Fig. 1 shows the end of a railway car with mydevice applied thereon.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3'is a section on line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 shows the boltland latch mechanism in'open position.

Fig. 5 shows the bolt and latch mechanism in closed position.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of Fig. 5. In my construction the corner post, end plate and end sill are securely fastened together to form a rigid frame to resist the serviceweaving stresses of the car in motion and swinging doors are provided to retain the cargo, which doors must transmit the static as well as the dynamic loads imposed by the cargo against the end wall to the .rigid frame. The doors are independently hinged to the opposite corner post (or frame member) of the car and when closed meet adjacent the'imedial line of the car and have an overlapped relation, that is, the outside door is provided with a part which overlaps the'inside door. The object of this overlapped relation is for weather-proofing and to retain the doors in a closed position.

Both doors are provided at their inner edges with stifleners 2-3 'which project beyond the outside faces of the doors, pref- W erably for the full height of the doors. These stiifeners have apertures 4r-5 in their web portions which register and have a flange or enlargement at their outer sides to provide strength and stiffness. The stiffener 3 on the outside door overlaps the stiffener 2 on the inside door and is arranged to engage both sides of it and is provided with an inclined surface 6 to draw the outside stifi'enor into engagement with the inside stiffener as the outer door is movedto closed position. In the preferred form the inside stiffener comprises a web 7 with a flange or bulb portion 8. .a web portion 9 with a flange 10 which is rebent to form an inclined flange 12, all. as shown in Fig. 2.

The door. (29 or 30) is hinged to the corner post 1 (or side wall of the car) so that a portion of it willswing behind the flange 23 and preferably engage or contact with it and a rubber hose 31 or other plastic material may be placed between the door and the corner post (secured to either one) to form a tight joint and to force the door against the flange 23. The hinges are designed to permit horizontal movement between their component parts (so-called a loose hinge) so that any load imposed upon the inner part of the door is resisted by the corner post independently of the hinges. Fig. 3 shows the relation of corner post, door and hinge and particularly the elongated pin hole 13 in the hinge butt which provides the horizontal movement.

An eccentric rod is mounted upon each door. operably engageable with devices 41-42 upon the car body to swing the top and bottom of the door simultaneously toward or away from the car, The eccentric mechanism comprises the rod 40 which is rotatably mounted upon the door by brackets 43' and 4:4. This rod has eccentric portions 454=6 which upon rotation of the rod engage the inclined surfaces of member 47-48 and force the door outwardly or inwardly as desired, The operating handle 49 is provided with means 50 to lock it in a predetermined position when the door is closed. This is not only to prevent pilfering but also to prevent the eccentric rod from revolving when a shifting load imposes a horizontal force upon. the inside ,of the. door.

The outside stiffener comprises The bolts and 61 are mounted on the outside door29 adjacent the overlapping portion of the door and are connected by the arm 62 which is provided with a handle 63.

Movement of the arm simultaneously engages (or disengages) bolts 60 and 61 with members 64-65 positioned adjacent the top and bottom, respectively, of the doors so as to retain the doors in a closed position.

A plurality of latches 90, or perhaps just one latch, are pivotally mounted preferably on the outside door so as to engage or disengage the registering apertures 4-5 in the stiileners upon movement about their respective pivots 91. These latches are connected for simultaneous operation by the bar 92, which bar is connected by the rod 93 to the means 62 (or to the bar 60, as illustrated) so that the same movement of the means 62 which operates bars 6061 also operates the latches 90. This simultaneous movement occurs upon engagement or disengagement of the mechanism. A unitary action and strength between the stifieners 23 on the inside and outside doors, respectively, is caused by the latches 90, as one cannot deflect or bulge without the other.

The operation of the door is as follows:

The inside door is moved to substantially closed position and its eccentric rod is rotated, thus forcing the door into a completely closed position. The outside door is then swung to substantially closed position and its eccentric rod is operated to force this door into a completely closed position. The arm 63 is then operated to force the bolts into their sockets on the car body which holds both doors in closed position, which movement also causes the latches to penetrate the registering apertures in the stiffeners on the doors. The eccentric rod and bolts are then locked in these positions. The car is thus doubly locked against pilfering, and, furthermore, any shifting of the lading or of the cargo against the doors is resisted by both eccentric rods, by both ends of the central bolt (6 points in all) as well as by the corner post. To open the door the operation is reversed. The eccentric rods give the door its initial movement, thus assisting in overcoming any sticking or wedging of the door. These eccentric rods also give the door its final closing movement, thus wedging the door tightly in place and overcoming any friction of the parts.

The accompanyingdrawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is tobe understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof within the scope of the claims will occur to persons skilled in the art.

My co-pending application, Serial No. 67,921, filed November 9, 1925, discloses and claims a certain relation between a door and a corner post of a railway car, which relation isdisclosed but notclaimed in this application.

I claim:

1. An end wall for a railway ing two swinging doors, side wall of the car and overlapping at the middle of the car, astifl'ener secured to the inner edge of the inside door projecting beyond the outer face thereof, a stiffener secured to the inner edge of the outside do'or overlapping and engaging both sides of the stifi'ener on the other door, a plurality of latches, each pivotally mounted on one of said doors to engage or disengage registering apertures in the stifieners, and a bar to simultaneously operate said latches.

2. An end wall for a railway car comprising two swinging doors, each hinged to a side wall of the car and overlapping at the middle of the car, a stifi'ener secured to the inner edge of the inside door projecting beyond the'outer face thereof, a stifi'ener secured to the inner edge of the outside door overlapping and engaging both sides of the stiffener on the other door, a pair of vertically movable locking bars mounted on the outside door, means to move said bars into engagement with devices on the car body adjacent the top and bottom of the door, a plurality of latches, each pivotally mounted on one of said doors to engage or disengage registering apertures in the stifi'eners, a bar. to simultaneously operate said latches, and a rod operably connecting said bar to said means.

3. An end wall for a railway car comprising two swinging doors hinged to the car so as to meet adjacent the medial line of the car, a member on one door projecting beyond the outer face thereof for substantially the full height of the door, a member on the other side of said doors engaging both sides of said projecting member for substantially the full height of the door, and a latch removably engaging registering apertures in said members.

4. An end wall fora railway car comprising two swinging doors hinged to the car so as to meet adjacent the medial line of the car, a member on one door projecting beyond the outer face thereof for substantially the full height of the door, a member on the other side of said doors engaging both sides of said projecting member for substantially the full height of the door, a pair of vertically movable locking bars, means to move said bars into engagement with devices on the car body adjacent the top and bottom of the door, and a latch removably engaging registering apertures in said members simultaneously operated by said means.

5. An end wall for a railway car comprising two swinging doors hinged to the car car compriseach hinged to a so as to meet adjacent the medial line of cally movable locking bars, means to move the car, a member on one door projecting besaid bars into engagement with devices on yond the outer face thereof for substantially the car body adjacent the top and bottom of 10 the full height of the door, a member on the the door, and a latch removably engaging 5 other side of said doors engaging both sides registering apertures in said members.

of said projecting member for substantially the full height of the door, a pair of verti- GARTH G. GILPIN. 

